Prowler stalks Sooke neighbourhood

Residents in the 2100 block of French Road in Sooke are asked to be on the lookout for a prowler.

Police received a call around 5 a.m. Thursday about a suspicious man lurking in the neighbourhood.

“We got a call that there was someone around the neighbourhood acting suspiciously and when we arrived we found a broken window at one residence, but the individual was nowhere to be found.,” said RCMP Sgt. Clayton Wiebe.

“We investigated but, beyond the broken window there had been nothing else damaged or stolen. It looks like he was scared off before he gained entry to the residence. Unfortunately, we don’t even have a good description of the person involved.”

Crystal Ball, who reported the incident to police, said her husband got up to investigate why the family’s dogs were barking when he saw a person standing outside the house across the street.

Ball said the neighbours were away and her husband called out to man in front of the house.

“He went out to yell to him but the man ducked in behind (our neighbour’s) house, and he couldn’t see him anymore so we called the RCMP,” she said.

Several prowler incidents have occurred recently in the neighbourhood.

“A while back there was someone reported going through someone’s backyard with a flashlight and another neighbour posted on line that they had some things stolen from the backyard.”

But while some people may have posted encounters on Facebook, Wiebe said that there has not been a rash of reports from the neighbourhood.

“I guess someone was just hanging around the area and I suppose he may have been looking to do something, but the neighbours did the right thing by calling us right away and he was scared off,” Wiebe said.

“People should always be on the lookout for something like this happening in their neighbourhood and call the RCMP immediately if they see something that doesn’t seem right.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 250-642-5241 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.